I upgraded to iTunes 11.0.2 and I noticed that my Unplayed Podcast count in the sidebar has jumped from 80 to over 650, so then I looked to see what's up and evidently iTunes now has marked all Available podcasts (i.e., podcasts available for download but not yet downloaded) as Unplayed podcast, which means that they all get the blue dot now - even the ones that I have not downloaded.

Then I decide to download a podcast (by clicking on the respective downward arrow by the title) to see if that resets anything and it doesn't work. Instead, the blue dot is replaced by a circle with an exclamation point with no further explanation. What a buggy piece of *****.

Anyone else having problems like this?

Edit:

Now I'm getting podcasts to download but making the Unplayed count essentially a podcast "Available" count makes the count all but worthless.

I can also right click and mark these available podcasts as "Marked as played." What a mess.